Transportation Department Fines Air France and KLM a Combined $425,000: Delta-Coded Flights Entered Prohibited Baghdad Airspace
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced in Washington on October 23 that it has fined Société Air France $105,000 and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines $320,000, a combined $425,000, for operating flights under Delta Air Lines' designator code in airspace restricted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Both carriers were also ordered to cease and desist from future violations.
DOT said the FAA prohibits flight operations by U.S. operators in foreign-managed airspace where conflict, militant activity or heightened tensions pose a safety risk to civil aviation, and that foreign airlines operating flights with a U.S. airline's code must abide by these prohibitions. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said: "Under the Trump Administration, if you fly carrying a U.S. code, following our safety rules is not optional." He said the department will not hesitate to hold accountable any airline for failing to comply with agency regulations, and that passenger safety comes first, with no exceptions.
Investigations by DOT's Office of Aviation Consumer Protection (OACP) found that Air France operated more than 30 flights carrying the Delta code through FAA-prohibited airspace in the Baghdad Flight Information Region between April 2022 and November 2025, and that KLM operated more than 100 such flights between January 2022 and May 2025.
DOT said code sharing is a marketing arrangement in which an airline places its designator code on a flight operated by another airline and sells tickets for that flight. On October 16, 2020, the FAA amended and extended SFAR 77, which prohibits all U.S. air carriers and U.S. commercial operators from conducting flight operations in the Baghdad Flight Information Region at altitudes below Flight Level 320; the restriction has been extended to October 26, 2027.
Related: DHS, Transportation Department and Department of War Join Forces to Protect Southern Border Airspace
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：荷兰皇家航空（KLM）波音 777-300ER 客机在 Amsterdam Schiphol 机场（资料图）。照片：Redalert2fan，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / A KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Boeing 777-300ER at Amsterdam Schiphol (file photo). Photo: Redalert2fan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
